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Healthy for Life: What to Eat in Your 20s, 30s, 40s, and Beyond

What should you be eating to prevent disease and keep fat from creeping on? FITNESS tailors a diet for your age.

By Karen Ansel, RD; Photograph by Laura Doss

Nutrition in Your 20s

You're working your first real job, making new friends, dating, getting married, maybe even starting a family. Your life is a whirlwind, which means healthy eating is the first thing to go. To conquer your biggest diet dilemmas:

Make fast food healthy. Researchers at Brown University Medical School found that 20-somethings eat 25 percent more fast-food meals than they did in their teens. Grabbing dinner on the go means you may be missing out on crucial nutrients, says Bonnie Taub-Dix, RD, a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. Slave over the stove? Nah. Choose healthy convenience foods — rotisserie chicken, shrimp cocktail, steamed dumplings, salads — and enjoy them with speedy additions from your kitchen — whole wheat pasta, instant brown rice, frozen veggies. For guilt-free fast-food choices, see "The Best Food to Eat on the Road."

Drink to your health. Margaritas, mojitos, and cosmos can pack on the pounds faster than you can say cheers. Enter light beer (110 calories in a 12-ounce bottle). It's filling, so you're less likely to want a second, and it takes a good long time to drink.

Key Nutrients You Need Now

Protein: Thanks to chronic dieting, skipped meals, and girl foods like frozen yogurt and low-fat muffins, it's likely you're falling short in this department. Protein helps keep you full and provides the building blocks so you can make and keep calorie-burning muscle. "Recent studies suggest that, at a minimum, we need 60 to 70 grams of protein a day," says Leslie Bonci, MPH, RD, director of sports medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Get your quota by eating skinless white-meat poultry, lean steak, fish, eggs, beans, tofu, and low-fat dairy.

Potassium: Your muscles and heart need it to function properly. But most women in their 20s get less than half the recommended amount, according to the USDA. Munching two cups of fruit (an apple, a banana, and a plain yogurt with fresh strawberries) and two and a half cups of veggies daily (a garden salad and a side of broccoli) provides all the potassium you need.

Omega-3 fats: They may boost the level of serotonin, a feel-good chemical in your brain — good news, since women are particularly susceptible to depression in their 20s. Salmon and tuna are the best source, but you can also get your fill from walnuts, ground flaxseed, and canola oil.

What to Eat in Your 20s

Snack Smart

Load up your desk drawer or office fridge with these tasty treats for fewer than 200 calories.

Evening Treat

Nutrition in Your 30s

Remember when you had time at least occasionally to indulge in a manicure? Now, not so much. You're too swamped juggling the demands of kids and career — and most likely eating on the run. To conquer your biggest diet dilemmas:

Order a Happy Meal — for you. Yes, really. For 500 calories (compared to 790 for a Quarter Pounder and medium fries) you can get a cheeseburger, Apple Dippers, and 1 percent milk or apple juice in a jiffy and drive away hundreds of calories lighter.

Put your health first. "In your 30s you start to see signs of an unhealthy lifestyle, such as diabetes or hypertension," says James O. Hill, PhD, director of the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Colorado. Dropping 10 percent of your weight can slash your risk of these diseases.

Key Nutrients You Need Now

Folate: It's critical for supporting a healthy pregnancy, preventing neural-tube defects and helping your body make new cells. Folate may also help reduce the risk of heart disease. Eat foods such as chickpeas, asparagus, spinach, broccoli, avocados, orange juice, and fortified whole grains to help meet your daily 400-microgram requirement.

Phytonutrients: "These compounds contain antioxidants, which slow the aging process, ward off heart disease, and prevent changes in DNA, potentially preventing the development of cancer," says Bonci. While phytonutrients come from plants, dark chocolate, red wine, and coffee are highest in them.

Iron: Not enough leaves you physically drained and messes with your mental muscle. Researchers at Penn State University found that young women who were deficient in the mineral took longer and performed worse on cognitive tasks than those who had normal levels of iron. Get your daily dose of 18 milligrams from foods such as clams, lean beef, fortified breakfast cereal, soybeans, pumpkin seeds, and skinless poultry.

What to Eat in Your 30s

5 Ingredients, 5 Minutes, 5 Lunches

You do have time for lunch! Here, healthy meals for about 400 calories.

Evening Treat

Nutrition in Your 40s

"This is when women start to find some time for themselves again," says Hill. "They're really anxious to improve their health and fitness." To conquer your biggest diet dilemmas:

Beat your belly bulge. If your belly seems a little rounder, blame it on estrogen withdrawal. "In her childbearing years, a woman puts on weight in her butt, hips, and thighs to fuel breastfeeding," says FITNESS advisory board member Pamela Peeke, MD, author of Fit to Live. "The fat cells in those areas have estrogen receptors. As you go through estrogen withdrawal, those receptors aren't being activated anymore." That signals your body to sock away the fat in your tummy. Dr. Peeke's solution: cardio five days a week and resistance training on the other two.

Cut just 100 calories a day. "For every decade after 40, there's roughly a 1 percent decrease in calorie requirements," says Bonci. "That's the equivalent of one extra cookie." Eating every three to four hours to keep your metabolism revved can also help keep off the weight.

Key Nutrients You Need Now

Calcium: As you approach menopause, bone-building estrogen starts to decline and calcium becomes more important. Ironically, you absorb less calcium from the food you eat because your stomach doesn't make as much of the acid necessary for absorption. Aim for 1,000 milligrams a day from low-fat dairy, supplements, or a combination.

Vitamin D: This nutrient helps your body absorb calcium, keeps your immune system strong, protects against breast and colon cancers, and even prevents hearing loss. But by the time you reach your 40s, levels of D quickly start to plummet. "There's no way to get enough vitamin D from your diet because very few foods contain it," says Bonci. Your best bet: a daily supplement of 600 to 1,000 international units.